In this post we explain the phrase ‘avoid the drop’ which is used in football when teams are trying to escape relegation. You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here. If you have questions or comments, please email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
(to) Avoid the drop
We all know that the bottom three teams at the end of the Premier League season have to leave the division and play in The Championship the following year – they drop down a tier or division; they are relegated. So, to avoid the drop means that the team escapes relegation and will play in the same division the following season; the team survives the drop is another way of saying this.
- Fulham avoided the drop on the last day of the 2008 season.
- Can newly-promoted West Ham avoid the drop this season?
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Jesse Marsch warns Leeds’ squad will be broken up if they cannot avoid drop (The Telegraph, May 2022)
Related Vocabulary
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What is the meaning of the phrases “get going” and “spring to life” mean in this context?
It’s been a positive start from Mourinho’s new side, who have bossed possession and shown plenty of ambition down the flanks. West Ham are struggling to get going
SHOT! Spurs spring to life at the other end through Son, who cuts inside onto his right foot before seeing a long-range effort pushed away from the far corner by Roberto.
When a team gets going in football it suggests that they are starting to play well. Sometimes you can hear pundits and managers saying that the team just didn’t get going – they didn’t start well and never really got into the game.
To spring to life means to get going but maybe a little more dramatically! In the example above, Spurs probably did not start the game that well but had a couple of attacks to show the opposition that they were starting to be a threat. You can also see the phrase ‘spring into action‘.